Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide

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Foremost in my mind was that Fiedler was still living, but also living in ignorance of my desire to kill him. If I refused to do what these ex-cops said, they could turn me in, and that would be the end of that. Better to give Dobson and Stedge the impression that I was cooperating, find a way to break free, and take a second stab at killing Fiedler, perhaps literally. I drank the potion with the abandon of a Dr. Jekyll who’s just learned that a fortune has been bequeathed to any man named Hyde. The acclaimed bestselling author and king of psychological suspense gets a whole new chance to thrill, as Jonathan Kellerman’s The Web makes its graphic novel debut.

Those of a certain age ( ahem) may remember him for 1979’s earworm “Escape (The Piña Colada Song).”

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From the diabolical imagination of Edgar Award-winning novelist, playwright, and story-songwriter Rupert Holmes comes a devilish thriller with a killer concept: The McMasters Conservatory for the Applied Arts, a luxurious, clandestine college dedicated to the fine art of murder where earnest students study how best to “delete” their most deserving victim.Who hasn’t wondered for a split second what the world would be like if a person who is the object of your affliction ceased to exist? But then you’ve probably never heard of The McMasters Conservatory, dedicated to the consummate execution of the homicidal arts. To gain admission, a student must have an ethical reason for erasing someone who deeply deserves a fate no worse (nor better) than death. The campus of this “Poison Ivy League” college–its location unknown to even those who study there–is where you might find yourself the practice target of a classmate…and where one’s mandatory graduation thesis is getting away with the perfect murder of someone whose death will make the world a much better place to live.Prepare for an education you’ll never forget. A delightful mix of witty wordplay, breathtaking twists and genuine intrigue, Murder Your Employer will gain you admission into a wholly original world, cocooned within the most entertaining book about well-intentioned would-be murderers you’ll ever read. Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide by Rupert Holmes – eBook Details Here Holmes successfully turns the mystery genre upside down by making us root for our three goodhearted killers, who if they fail, don’t just receive an F — they pay with their lives. Gulp. Full of endless puns, dry humor, and nostalgia for a bygone era that evokes the early 1950s, Murder Your Employer chronicles the experiences of students at McMasters Conservatory for the Applied Arts, a finishing school that teaches one how to “finish” people off.

A devilish thriller with a killer concept: The McMasters Conservatory for the Applied Arts, a luxurious, clandestine college dedicated to the fine art of murder where earnest students study how best to “delete” their most deserving victim. Through their diaries, interactions with each other and the dean’s reports, we follow their progress. It was interesting to see what the classes are about and the weekly timetables, including the eating schedules. What I found very intriguing were Cliff’s attempts to escape the school in the beginning. Eventually Caltech led me to MIT, which led me to aircraft manufacturer Woltan Industries, which led me to homicide. This was not entirely MIT’s fault. I don’t even blame Woltan that much, except for their choice of senior executives, one being my supervisor Merrill Fiedler, who needs to die. Who hasn’t wondered for a split second what the world would be like if a person who is the object of your affliction ceased to exist? But then you’ve probably never heard of The McMasters Conservatory, dedicated to the consummate execution of the homicidal arts. To gain admission, a student must have an ethical reason for erasing someone who deeply deserves a fate no worse (nor better) than death. The campus of this “Poison Ivy League” college—its location unknown to even those who study there—is where you might find yourself the practice target of a classmate...and where one’s mandatory graduation thesis is getting away with the perfect murder of someone whose death will make the world a much better place to live. Rupert Holmes spins this unique story that is sure to open the reader’s eyes and pique their curiosity. This is a thriller like no other, told as a piece of fiction and journal of one of the new students at The McMasters Conservatory for the Applied Arts. This secretive organization seeks to train those to commit murder without leaving a trace. Holmes leaves the reader wondering just how much is fact and where the fiction commences.I maneuvered my newly cumbersome form as daintily as Oliver Hardy doing a soft-shoe with Stan Laurel, passing through the gauntlet of a turnstile and down concrete steps onto the subway’s uptown platform, and discovered with satisfaction that my target was standing exactly where I’d wanted him to be: Merrill Fiedler, a crisply groomed success story in his early fifties, in town on business for Woltan’s Baltimore plant, where he’d been my supervisor. He was currently thumbing a magazine by a newsstand at the south end of the platform only a few yards away from me, precisely as I’d managed to contrive. I needed Fiedler positioned on the platform where uptown trains entered the station. At the far end, the train would already be braking to a halt and might not deliver an instantly lethal blow. If they refuse to reform, you can proceed with a clear conscience. After all, when the behavior of another person leaves you no choice but to kill them, their murder is simply involuntary suicide.” I mean lol. The campus of this “Poison Ivy League” college-its location unknown to even those who study there-is where you might find yourself the practice target of a classmate…and where one’s mandatory graduation thesis is getting away with the perfect murder of someone whose death will make the world a much better place to live. Full of endless puns, dry humor, and nos The results speak for themselves, and for me,” Fiedler replied with maddening self-assurance. “We’re number one in the region.”

There are kitchen gardens so the food is fresh and there’s an ice cream van to complete the bucolic setting. But there are also poison gardens and there is ground glass in the ice cream. I felt Gemma was a completely unnecessary character to add and served nothing to the story. If another volume has been produced reviolving her, I'm sure I would've care about her story. As it is, she was a largely unimportant character until over halfway through the story. Suddenly she's a POV and we're supposed to learn about her life and goals and a bunch of other stuff I didn't care about. It's a diservice to her character to toss her alonsisde Cliff's storyline. I reflexively looked down at the gun as Dobson interjected, “No, the sergeant’s pulling your leg. Revolvers don’t have safety catches.” Sergeant Stedge answered the question for me. “Brandt’s has. People pinch something, step into a changing room to remove the price tags, and hide the goods on their person. So the store will post operatives posing as shoppers near the changing rooms, to watch for customers who exit a little larger than when they went in.” Rupert Holmes, of "Piña Colada Song" fame, has given mystery lovers a real treat. Especially if you like mysteries that play with genre and format, which this very much does. Something I didn't know going in is that this is also historical fiction, taking place in the years just after the second world war, so it's more like Agatha Christie levels of technology here, which does affect the type of mysteries you get. We follow three characters as they make their way to the McMasters Conservatory, a school whose sole goal is to teach its students how to commit their perfect murder on an appropriate target. (I enjoyed that it is explained to us that certain types of murders are not allowed, only the killing of targets whos absence from the world would make it better is approved.)Stedge was a short, muscular man inadequately contained by the seams of his rayon suit. He sported an identical tie to the captain’s, indicating either that he was having an affair with Dobson’s unloving wife or that they’d bought their ties at the same store from a display labeled “None Over a Quarter.” The handle of a police revolver peeked from behind his left lapel where it nestled uneasily in an ill-fitting shoulder holster. Jesus, I thought—I have my spiritual moments given the right circumstances—they know my real name! My mouth went instantly dry as if a cup of flour had been tossed down my throat. How, how could they possibly know who I was? The only other way out of the room was the fire escape to the street eight stories below, and with flight being evidence of guilt, I summoned all the bravado left in me and discovered there was none. I felt both corners of my forced smile twitching like a jumpy nerve as I opened the door. “Yes?” I asked, striving for the puzzled tone of a model citizen. If this were to become a duology or series then I'll definitely read it. I would consider this to be a dark academia novel that fits more along my tastes. I genuinely had a fun time from beginning to end. Were there things that should've been edited/removed? Of course. But, regardless of faults, I was FEASTING! Cliff undertakes many of the courses needed to better understand the art of murder and how to effectively target those who deserve to be extinguished. As Cliff makes his way through the courses, he shares with the reader some of his insights and how his training is slowly helping him to become more sinister and a better killer. Cliff uses some of his time to reassess the foibles of his attempted killing of an immediate superior, as he tries to concoct how he would re-commit the murder.